Shit's bleak on this season of The Walking Dead. As if Abraham's fatal bludgeoning wasn't enough, unsung fashion legend Daryl Dixon had to pop off on Negan and inadvertently get Glenn killed. The palpable gore of the season 7 premiere was far from a turnoff for viewers, as Dead stacked up some seriously massive ratings. But Norman Reedus is certain Daryl will never stop blaming himself for that emotional gut-punch.
"He goes into a very dark place," Reedus told Entertainment Weekly Thursday. "He completely takes the weight of that and just carries that with him. He never forgives himself and he takes full responsibility." Reedus also explained that Daryl's jab at Negan was simply reactionary, an act of protection for Rosita that sadly (predictably?) backfired. "We were right next to each other," Reedus said. "And he was picking on Rosita and Daryl stood up for her and he stood up for Abraham. The outcome of that, nobody knew that was going to happen."
Glenn himself spoke with EW last week, urging fans to please not blame Daryl for his horrific demise. "I think Daryl is a character that will blame himself," Steven Yeun said. "I think that’s enough for him." Jeffrey Dean Morgan, dabbling in some Negan ruthlessness in real life, joked on a recent Talking Dead that "Glenn would still be alive" if it weren't for Daryl and only made this whole Let's Blame Daryl for Everything movement even stronger.
The Walking Dead has at least one more season of highly profitable audience torture ahead, meaning Daryl will most likely be living with this burden for a very long time. Take it easy on the guy.
![Negan!](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 203 115"%3E%3C/svg%3E)